Ex-NFL coach Reeves is Virginia’s newest fan

Scattershooting around the ACC, touching a little football, a little basketball, while noting that UVa has a new fan ...
Dan Reeves, who coached the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons to success, has now become a new fan of the Wahoos after Virginia coach Mike London hired one of Reeves’ old protégés, new Cavalier offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
“I’m excited about Bill being at Virginia,” Reeves said in a conversation from his home in the Atlanta area. “I’m going to become a Cavalier fan to watch him.”
Reeves gave Lazor his start in the NFL in 2003 when he hired Lazor from the University of Buffalo to become the Falcons’ offensive quality control coach.
“When I hired Bill, he impressed me as one of the brightest young coaches I had been around,” Reeves said. “He picked up things so quickly, the terminology, everything. His knowledge of the game was second to none.
“You hire some people for quality control and they do their job, but Bill was always wanting to do more,” Reeves said. “Because of his work with the quarterbacks, I watched him closely with us and afterward with the Redskins and Seahawks.”
Reeves said in his opinion that Lazor did the best job of coaching Redskins’ quarterback Jason Campbell of anyone who has worked with Campbell.
“I am proud of what Bill did after he left Atlanta,” the former NFL coach continued. “Coaching under Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren gave him a good background.”
While Lazor hasn’t called plays since he was offensive coordinator at Buffalo back in 2001 and ‘02, he noted he would have to practice to regain his old form. Reeves said he has complete confidence that Lazor will do a good job for UVa.
“With the knowledge Bill has, I think that’s the reason he’ll be a head coach in the future,” Reeves said. “He has a great feel for the game. I think a guy who has played quarterback, it just makes you qualified to be able to [call plays]. Certainly, if I had stayed in coaching, I would have leaned on Bill to do a lot of things with my quarterbacks and I had a lot of confidence in him to call the plays.”
Not a bad endorsement.
On the dotted line ...
Speaking of London, he and his new Virginia coaching staff will be welcoming 17 or so new recruits today, the first day of the National Signing period.
The Daily Progress will feature complete coverage of UVa and local high school recruiting in Thursday’s edition.
While today is the college equivalent to the NFL Draft day, Cavalier fans may not be jumping up and down with excitement.
National recruiting analysts from Rivals.com ranks UVa’s incoming class No. 65 in the country and 10th in the ACC, just ahead of Wake Forest and Duke.
The Cavaliers have one 4-star recruit, Fork Union Military’s Morgan Moses, a 6-foot-7, 340-pounder, and 11 3-stars. FUMA officials have insisted that Moses is still coming to UVa while rumors swirl about him going elsewhere due to academic shortcomings.
Stat of the week
Virginia freshman Jontel Evans has made an immediate impact on the Cavaliers, somewhat unexpected, because all of the early hype was on UVa’s other freshman, Tristen Spurlock.
Evans has worked his way into a starting spot because of defense, patience and a hunger to follow directions and stick his nose into the fray. Spurlock, a gifted offensive player, has hardly gotten off the bench all season.
Here’s one reason why Evans is prized by his coaches:
The rookie leads the ACC in assists-to-turnover ration (2.6:1) in conference games only.
Quote of the week
North Carolina coach Roy Williams after losing by 15 at home to underdog Virginia:
“This is the worst day of my life.”
Wahoo trivia
This week is the 55th anniversary of the first “triple-double” by a Virginia basketball player.
Who was the Cavalier to first accomplish that feat?
The answer will be at the end of today’s column.
Cupcake city
A couple of ACC teams devoured the cupcakes on their schedule over the weekend, with N.C. State obliterating North Carolina Central by a 77-42 count, and Georgia Tech hammering Kentucky State (frankly, I had never heard of Kentucky State before), 98-50.
Because of the snow, but perhaps more because of the opponent, only 2,271 fans showed up at Raleigh’s RBC Center for the N.C. State game, meaning there were about 17,000 empty seats. N.C. Central came into the game with a 4-18 record.
How those fans stayed awake during the first half, when State was ahead only 27-20 at the break is beyond me.
At least Georgia Tech got something out of their rout over Kentucky State, coached by former Yellow Jacket Clarence Moore.
Following the game, Moore gave an honest critique of what he saw in his alma mater’s squad.
“I’ve seen a few [Georgia Tech] games this season and I don’t see a leader out there,” Moore said. “To me, it looks like guys are trying to find themselves. You have to have a vocal leader and someone who is willing to get on guys and know that he’s going to catch it at some point down the line as well ... If they start holding each other accountable as a team, they’ll definitely be on their way.”
Tech coach Paul Hewitt listened intently to his former player, who was a leader on the Yellow Jackets’ squad that went to the Final Four in 2004, Hewitt’s first year on the job and noted that his team does need leadership and the accountability that Moore pointed out, but noted that this team doesn’t quite understand that yet.
Where’s Richard?
Former Virginia basketball star Richard Morgan was an assistant coach for Appalachian State the past three years but left when Buzz Peterson returned to coach the Mountaineers.
So, where’s Richard?
Morgan is the head coach of the Bluefield (W.Va.) Ramblin’ Rams, who had a three-game winning streak going and were 10-11 on the season last time we looked.
Morgan’s chief assistant is another familiar name to Central Virginia hoops fans: Keith “Mister” Jennings, who was The Daily Progress two-time Central Virginia Player of the Year both his junior and senior seasons at Culpeper High School.
Jennings, at 5-foot-7, was a second-team All-American at East Tennessee State, where he led the Bucs to the NCAA Tournament his senior season and was selected as the Naismith Award winner, given annually to the best player in the country under six-foot tall.
Update
Last week, we mentioned that Maryland owned the ACC’s longest win streak over another league opponent with eight straight against Georgia Tech and six in a row against N.C. State, and that North Carolina owned a pair of six-game streaks as well, against N.C. State and against Virginia.
Well, the Tar Heels stretched that streak to seven over the Wolfies, but the Cavaliers ended UNC’s streak on Sunday night.
Wahoo trivia answer
On Feb. 1, 1955, Bill Miller had a triple-double, the first in Virginia history, in a 98-91 loss to sixth-ranked N.C. State.
As far as we can tell, there have been only two other triple-doubles by a Cavalier since, both by Ralph Sampson.
Bill, and his lovely bride, Jell, still reside in the area.